Flanged fitting end.



E. F. OSBORNE. FLANGBD FITTING END.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 23, 1909.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

llllllllllll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE F. OSBORNE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORTO= OSBORNE STEAMENGINEER- ING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

ELANGED FITTING END.

Application filed July 23, 1909. Serial No. 509,109.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENEF. OSBORNE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flanged FittingEnds; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of ref crence marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the manner of making flangedfittings for high pressure joints for piping wherein the fitting membersare provided with flanges which cooperate with bolts or other clampingdevices which draw together the companion members of the joint in amanner to compress the packing medium between them.

Among the objects of the invention is to avoid the loss of castings byreason of cracking or breaking thereof at the junction of the flangeswith the relatively lighter bodies of the fittings, due to irregularcooling of the inner and outer sides of the castings at this point, andto effect a saving of metal used in the fittings and thereby greatlydecrease the cost of the fittings without in any way impairing theirstrength or efiiciency.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Flgure 1 is a View partially in section and partiallyin elevation of a pipe and two connected fittings, one being a valve andthe other an elbow fitting. Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail ofone of the fittings, showing the temperature equalizing space in theflange thereof. Fig. 8 is a detail illustrating the application of theinvention to the flanged connecting ends of a double and a singlereturn-bend fitting adapted for use in a condenser or like construction.Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line 4L-t of Fig. 1.

The pipe 10 shown in Fig. l is connected, through a valve 11, of anysuitable form, with a pipe 12, and, through an elbow fitting 18, with apipe 14:. So far as the present invention is concerned the joint betweenthe flanged branches 15 of the valve and the flanged ends of the elboware identical, and a description of one serves for both. The said elbowand valve are provided at their Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

connections with the pipe 10, as well as with the pipes 14 and 12respectively, with heavy flanges 17 through which, and flanges 18, 18,surrounding the ends of the pipe 10, extend clamping bolts 19, 19 bywhich the flanged joint members are drawn together to compress thepacking rings 20 that are interposed between said joint members. hereinshown the pipe 10 has at its ends tapered screw threads that engageinterior tapered screw-threads in the openings of the flanges 18, and isreduced at its ends beyond its screw-threaded portions to providecylindric extensions 21, 21 which fit closely in cylindric bores 22, 22in the flanges of the fittings 11 and 13. In the present constructionthe packing rings 20 surround and fit closely about the reducedextensions 21 of the pipe, and are contained in recesses 23 formed inthe flanges 17 just outside the bores 22. The packingrings arecompressed in said recesses by followers 24 of the flanges 18 that enterthe recesses. In the present instance thepacking rings 20 are tapered ormade conical at their ends to fit the corresponding ta cred bottom facesof the recesses 23 an the end faces of the followers 24.

The fittings described, and others of a generally similar character,have been designed for use in piping carrying high pres sure fluid,such, for instance, as superheated steam, ammonia and carbon dioxid, andit is essential that the flanges of the fittings be made strong andrelatively massive in order to withstand the strain necessary to bringthe proper packing pressure on the joint making devices, as the packingrings 20. It has been found in practice that the mass of metal requiredin the flanges, relatively to that required in the fitting walls, is sogreat that the unequal cooling of the metal at the interior and exteriorsides of the walls and flanges in the molding operation tends to anddoes break or crack the castings at the junction of the walls andflanges; and this is particularly true when the castings are made of ahigh fusing metal, such as cast steel. In order to avoid the loss ofcastings due to this cause, it has heretofore been found necessary inthe manufacture of these fittings to make the walls of the fittings ofmuch greater thickness than required to withstand the pressure of thefluid which they carry, with a result of greatly increas ing the weightand cost of the castings; The alternative of making the fitting walls ofa thickness only to withstand the pressure .of the fluid carried by thepiping results in scrapping a substantial percentage of the castings dueto the imperfections referred to, thus increasing the aggregate cost ofthe fittings. In order to avoid these difiieulties, I propose to so eastthe flanged fittings as to provide within the flange a temperatureequalizing space or recess 26, which is arranged to carry or transmitthe cooling effect during the coolin of the casting in the mold to asubstantial istance into the flange in such manner that the coolingeffect is more nearly equalized at the interior and exterior angles ofthe flange and fitting wall 'as compared to prior practice. This recessis shown as located between the fluid thorough'fare of the fitting andthe packing joint formed in part by the packing ring 20, and is extendedradially outwardly a substantial distance into the metal of the flange.The part 27 of the flange at the base of the fitting wall is graduallyincreased in thickness as 1t approaches the outer sides of said recess,thereby effecting a gradual and equalized cooling of the part 27 of theflange. The same is true with respect to the part 28 of the flangebetween said recess and the outer end of the flange. The coolin of themetal of the flange and fitting wal is therebyrendered more nearlyuniform than under prior practice and the contracting efleet on themetal of the casting is correspondingly equalized. Between said recess26 and the packing ring recess 23 is provided an annular flange orabutment 29 which constitutes the bottom of the packing ring recess, andwhich is of ample strength to resist the packing pressure broughton theflanged fitting.

It has been found that the provision of the temperature equalizing space26, arranged as described, permits a reduction of thickness of the wallof the fitting of at least twenty per cent. In other words the thicknessof the fitting wall maybe calculated more nearly upon the pressure whichthe fitting is. designed to. carry, and thereby avoid an overweight ofthe casting which has heretofore been necessary to prevent cracking ofthe casting at the junction of the flange and wall, due to the unequalcooling of the casting at this point.

In Fig. 3 I have shown my invention as adapted to the flange. fittingsof. a combined single and return-bend fitting adapted for use, forinstance in a condenser or like structure, such as is shown in mypending application for United States Letters Patent, filed on the 16thday of August 1909, Serial Number 512,995. As shown in said figure, v30designates one flanged end of a double return-bend fitting and 31 thecorresponding flanged end of a single returnbend fitting the saidfittings being bored to receive the reduced end 32 of the pipe 33 whichconstitutes one passage of the condenser. In this construction bothflanges of the fittings 30 and 31 are provided with the temperatureequalizing spaces 26 for the same purpose as described in connectionwith Figs. 1 and 2. The said spaces 26 may be carried somewhat fartherinto the flanges between the bolts 19 than in the parts of the flangesdirectly between said bolts and the openings in the fittings whichreceive the pipe 10 or other tubular men1- her, as indicated by thedotted outline of said space in Fig. 1. A further advantage of theprovision of the space 26 in the flange is that the part 28 of the metalof the flange, which is under. compression through the action of thebolts 19, is thereby pressed into closer fitting relation to the end ofthe pipe which enters the bore of the fitting, whereby an eflicientmetal to metal joint between the pipe and fitting is brought about.

It will be understood that the improvements herein described may beequally well adapted to fittings of other form than herein shown, as forinstance, they may be adapted to two flanged parts or members which arebolted or otherwise secured together to form the casing of a valve orlike fitting. The invention is not limited therefore to the structuraldetails illustrated except as hereinafter made the subject of specificclaims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hollow fitting for high pressure joints and the like, providedaround the opening thereof with a flange by which the fitting isconnected to another part, the fitting bein formed at the junction ofthe flange wit the fitting wall with an interior temperature equalizingspace which extends a substantial distance radially into the flange, forthe purpose set forth.

2. A hollow fitting for high pressure joints provided around the openingthereof with a flange by which the fitting is connected to another part,the fitting being formed at the junction of the flange with the fittingwall with an interior temperature equalizing space which extends asubstantial distance radially into the flange, the fit ting wall beinggradually increased in thickness at the point where it merges into theflange, for the purpose set forth.

3. A fitting for high pressure joints, having an opening to receive atubular member eonstitutmg part of the fluid passage and provided aroundsaid opening with a flange arranged to constitute part of a jointbetween said fitting and tubular member, the fitting being formed at thejunction of the flange with the fitting wall with an interiortemperature equalizing space which extends a substantial distanceradially into the flange for the purpose set forth.

4. A fitting for high pressure joints having an opening to receive atubular member constituting part of the fluid passage and providedaround said opening with a flange arranged to constitute part of a jointbetween said fitting and said tubular member, the fitting being formedat the junction of the flange with the fitting wall With an interior,annular temperature equalizing space which extends a substantialdistance radially into the flange and provided between said space andthe end of the fitting with an annular packing supporting flange orabutment.

5. A fitting for high pressure joints having an opening to receive atubular member constituting part of the fluid conduit, and providedaround said opening with a flange arranged to constitute part of a jointbe tween said fitting and said tubular member, the fitting being formedwith an interior annular temperature equalizing space which extends intothe flange radially beyond the junction of the wall of the fitting withsaid flange and the fitting being formed with a fillet at the interiorangle between said wall and flange.

6. In a high pressure joint, the co1nbination with a hollow fittingprovided with an opening to receive a tubular member constituting partof the fluid passage and with a flange surrounding said opening, of atubular member entering said opening and provided with a flange opposingthe fitting flange, and a packing ring surrounding said tubular memberand arranged to be compressed between said flanges, the fitting beingprovided at the junction of the fitting Wall and its flange with anannular temperature equalizing space which extends a substantialdistance radially into said flange and exterior to said flange with anannular abutment for the packing ring.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aflix mysignature in the presence of two witnesses, this 19th day of July A. D.1909.

EUGENE F. OSBORNE.

Witnesses:

W. L. HALL, WILLIAM GOLDBERGER.

